22 May 2023 , 14:35
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Prince Harry and William have distanced themselves further than ever - and it is feared that the unresolved issues could last for many years.
The Duke of Sussex was seated in the third row for the crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey, and was placed two rows behind his brother the Prince of Wales.
Harry's attendance marked his first public appearance alongside the royals since he lambasted his family in his controversial memoir Spare.
The warring siblings did not speak to one another during the ceremony, with Harry returning to his home in California just hours afterwards.
But there was one royal who stopped to chat to the duke inside Westminster Abbey.
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Prince Harry arriving at Westminster Abbey for the King's Coronation (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Princess Anne was spotted turning towards a smiling Harry, and reportedly asking if he was comfortable with his seat three rows back.
According to lipreaders, he told her: "I don't mind," before adding: "Sit at the front!"
An insider told the Mail on Sunday: "The Princess Royal has always had a soft spot for Harry and they both have a wicked sense of humour.
"People talk about Prince Andrew being the Spare but Anne was the second-born, too, and particularly since Diana died has always felt a duty to support her nephew.
"Both Anne and Harry have a great sense of humour and more in common than it might seem."
Previously, a friend of the Royal Family suggested Prince Harry sit down with Anne, also noting that she was once in a similar position to him as a "spare".
"She was second to [Charles] and kicked further down the line of succession as a woman, but she forged her own path," a source told the Telegraph.
"In her twenties she was bolshy and upset about a lot of things, but she came through that.
Princess Anne speaking to Harry inside Westminster Abbey (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)"He should talk to her about her experiences. She is shrewd, she could tell him a lot about what she went through."
And in an interview ahead of the King's Coronation, Anne appeared to make a subtle reference to Harry as she discussed the prospect of a slimmed-down monarchy.
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She told CBC: “Well, I think the ‘slimmed-down’ (monarchy) was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment."
Anne and Harry at a thanksgiving service in Windsor in 2012 (AFP/Getty Images)When it was put to her that the world changes, Anne added: “It changes a bit. I mean, it doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I have to say.
"I’m not quite sure what else, you know, we can do.”
Last year, Anne was awarded the title of the hardest working royal after carrying out 214 engagements in 2022, including trips to the US and the Falkland Islands.
It was the highest number of official engagements according to analysis of the Court Circular, the official registry of visits and duties by senior royals.
Anne also led the royal engagements league in 2021, when she attended 387 engagements, as well as in 2018, 2016 and 2015.